Product Description

A resourceful young woman and her blind sister arrive in 18th-century paris and become caught up in the terror of the french revolution. Studio: Kino International Release Date: 12/10/2002 Starring: Lillian Gish Joseph Schildkraut Run time: 150 minutes Director: D.w. Griffith

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23202 in DVD
• Released on: 2002-12-10
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, DVD, Full Screen, Silent, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 150 minutes

Amazon.com essential video
This is D.W. Griffith's last great success, an epic melodrama from 1922 about two orphaned girls (real-life sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish) raised in the same house and tragically separated during the French Revolution's infamous reign of terror. While this is no Birth of a Nation or Intolerance, it still reveals Griffith's inimitable talent for spectacle and intimacy. Not surprisingly, it works best when focusing on the plight of the two sisters: Lillian is a peasant who cares for the blind Dorothy, a product of the deposed aristocracy. Orphans of the Storm is a film about intriguing pairings. Mingling with the upper class to help find Dorothy, Lillian falls in love with the handsome and compassionate Joseph Schildkraut (best known as Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank) and beguiles the influential Danton. Dorothy, meanwhile, is held captive by a family of gypsies, and is fought over by two brothers. Despite the lavish sets and Lillian's stirring performance, the love stories and political tumult don't quite mesh. But there are two magnificent moments emblematic of Griffith's dual talents: When Lillian recognizes Dorothy's plaintive voice outside her window and comes to her rescue, and the thrilling climax when Danton rescues Lillian from the guillotine. --Bill Desowitz

Customer Reviews

Mr Griffith and the French Revolution
This film shows Lillian Gish in one of her greatest roles, but is also noteworthy as an instance of one of the few readily available films in which she appears alongside her equally talented sister Dorothy. Dorothy was most famous as a comedienne, but shows her ability here as a dramatic actress especially in the way she portrays the fear and bewilderment of being alone, blind, in a hostile and unfamiliar world. It is also interesting to see a very early appearance of Joseph Schildkraut, who would go on to win an Oscar for his role in the Life of Emile Zola and much later would play Anne Frank's father in the Diary of Anne Frank. The scope of the film is enormous with lavish sets and costumes. This is remarkable for Griffith was in financial difficulties when the film was made, so much so that at times there were doubts as to whether he could finish it. Thankfully he did, for the film remains one of his best. The story is exciting and passionate with one of Griffith's best race to the rescue climaxes. Granted it has some cliché's which were common to this genre, such as an orphan with an identifying locket, but these cliché's are no worse than those of Dickens and Oliver Twist. Indeed Griffith portrays the French revolution as well as any adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. Where he goes astray somewhat is in his attempts to liken the French Revolution to events and persons with which American audiences might have been more familiar. It is ludicrous to call Danton a French Abraham Lincoln and his comparisons with Bolshevism and warnings against the `red menace' come across now as mildly amusing. But these are really criticisms only of the titles which, as so often with Griffith, are sometimes overblown. This is a very good DVD for it shows the film in the most complete and, as far as I am aware, the longest version available. There is however, one brief scene of Danton arguing with a court which seems to repeat itself. Whether this was Griffith's intention or a restoration mistake I cannot say. The print shows very little damage and reproduces the film's original tints. The music is wonderful especially in scenes of the riotous dancing of the crowds. It is possible to quibble with the use of La Marseillaise, as this was written later than 1789, but this is a very minor point. To conclude I would highly recommend this film as a wonderful example of an historical epic and as one of the most exciting silent films I have ever seen.

You'll shiver better without that shawl
ORPHANS OF THE STORM is a great movie, and this time I'm not going to deduct a point for print quality and its non-sequiter of a sound track.
Real sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish star as half-sisters Henriette and Louise Girard. Louise (Dorothy) was found on the cold and snowy steps of the church Henriette's father had, before a change of heart, placed her. Their parents die, the girls grow into porcelain beauties and Louise loses her sight. Henriette vows to take care of Louise forever, and they travel to Paris in hopes of restoring Louise's sight.
En route a cruel aristocrat is inflamed with Henriette's "virginal beauty" and connives to kidnap her. Henriette is indeed kidnapped shortly after her arrival in Paris, and the helpless Louise is forced to fend for herself.
Half of the fun of ORPHANS OF THE STORM is watching the indignities DW Griffith subjects his two starlets to. Henriette is kidnapped by one of the slimier specimens of the over-fed and over-sexed aristocracy. Her desperate search for Louise is frustrated at every turn- when she finally spots Louise and attempts to reach her the police arrive and she is sent to a prison for fallen women. Oh, yeah, did I mention her delivery to "the foot of Death's gate?"
Louise has it no better. She is kidnapped by the monstrous Mother Frochard (Lucille La Verne). Mother Frochard, with her hair mole and moustache and missing teeth, may be the ugliest woman ever filmed. Mother F is a street beggar, and she plans to use the blind Louise as her main attraction. After she breaks Louise's spirit, that is. So, down into the rat-infested cellar with Louise and up comes the ladder. They're real rats down there. Griffith also throws a few cold days of beggary and an attempted rape in Louise's direction.
It's all great fun and the girls are indomitably strong and resourceful. The print quality is quite good in spots, simply awful in others. Most of the stock is sepia-toned, but some battle scenes seem to have been tinted red and there's a scene towards the end of the movie that seems to have been colorized. Because this isn't a restored print it's impossible to tell.
Having watched a handful of silent movies recently I'm beginning to wonder why they aren't rescored. Alpha Video puts a classical recording on the track of their releases and calls it good. It's not. These old films are works of art and national treasures, and they deserve better than this. Sound IS an important component to movies. Either restore the original music or have a contemporary composer write a brand new score. (Note: I watched the discount Alpha release of the film, and I didn't realize that Kino has a pricier print that includes the original music. I'm going out on a ledge here, but I'll bet the print quality is better, too. I'll be trading up to the Kino version in the near future.)

Sweeping and Romantic
"Her name is Louise. Save Her."


This is without a doubt one of film pioneer D.W. Griffith's most rich and beautiful silent films. It is truly grand, an epic which never lags, its stars and story holding the viewer's attention with both its beauty and drama.

Griffith took the 19th century play, "The Two Orphans," and made one of the finest films of the silent era. The story of excess and poverty which brought about the French Revolution is told through the moving story of a blind orphan girl and the "sister" who sacrifices all to care for her. It was sheer brilliance which made real sisters Lilian and Dorothy Gish the perfect choice for Louise and Henriette.

Lushly photographed, Griffith shows the ornate beauty of the aristocrats and how it contasted the tremendous poverty in the streets. Griffith's genius here, however, was that he showed it only as a backdrop to the deeply human story of Henriette (Lilian Gish) and her blind sister, Louise (Dorothy Gish), making for a fast moving and incredibly entertaining film, rather than some cerebral historical epic which looks great but can't hold your attention.

When the plague takes the lives of both their parents, Henriette vows to care for her blind sister Louise, abandoned on their doorstep as a baby. The two have grown up as sisters and it is that love which carries them through the storm which is about to rage in Paris. It is to Paris they travel in hopes of restoring Louise's sight. Henriette's beauty does not go unnoticed, however, and an aristocrat so unfeeling as to run over a poor young Parisian girl with his coach and show concern only for his horses has Henriette abducted, and the two siblings are separated.

There is one aristocrat with a heart, however, and young Chevalier (Joseph Schildkraut) falls deeply in love with her and offers her a bethrothel ring. Henriette loves the young man but has promised not to marry without her sister's approval. While Chevalier tries to find Louise, Henriette befriends the voice of the French common people, Danton (Monte Blue). She will hide him and find herself imprisoned, while Louise is at the mercy of street people. Louise is not without her protector either, however, even though it comes in the form of a cowardly street urchin named Pierre (Frank Puglia).

The shadow over Henriette's happiness deepens when the sisters are brought together yet torn apart once again by circumstance. Gish is freed during the revoulution but anarchy reigns, and she is sentenced to the guillotine with Chevalier, who has returned to Paris, facing death to find her. Only an impassioned plea from Danton, the voice of reason in the midst of chaos can save the two lovers, as Louise looks on. But a desperate ride to get to the guillotine may not come in time.

Both Lillian and Dorothy are wonderful here. Each have that dainty beauty which enabled them to play younger than they were. Those who doubt Lillian's physical appeal, however, will no longer do so after viewing this romantic historical epic. One scene in particular, as an umbrella clad Henriette braces the rain, evidence that a beautiful woman lurked just beneath her child-like beauty. She takes your breath away.

This is a dazzling spectacle, its mix of sentiment and heroics nearly unequaled in American cinema. A fantastic silent film which is as artistic as it is entertaining. A true American masterpiece.